China issues first national RED ALERT for ‘severe fog’ of 2017

Just three days into the new year, China has issued its first red alert for “severe fog” of 2017.But not only is this red alert the first of the year, it’s also the first ever national red alert for fog. Over the past few days, northern, eastern and central China have been blanketed in a thick layer of grey haze, reducing visibility to nearly nothing. It’s expected to stick around until at least Wednesday.Of course, not everything in the air is good, wholesome “fog,” there’s also a bit of smog, causing China’s National Meteorological Center to raise an orange alert for air pollution in the same area.China finished off 2016 with a hellish airpocalypse and it doesn’t seem much has changed in the new year. Blurry pictures have flooded onto the internet, showing a familiar mix of low visibility, smog masks and flight delays.An apocalyptic video shot on Monday morning from a Beijing high-rise has gone viral on Chinese social media:

But perhaps no one has had it as bad as the unfortunate commuters who were stuck in a nightmarish traffic jam on a highway leading back into Beijing on Monday.

On the bright side all this smog/fog does add a certain aura to morning exercises.[Images via Xinhua / NetEase]